posted on September 7, 2001 07:17:12 AM
I've totally cut PayPal out of my auctions due to their fees and policies and eliminated BillPoint for transactions over $15. All of my auctions list the free Yahoo PayDirect service as my only online payment option, although I do allow BillPoint for under $15 transactions. However, I'm finding at times it can be a little awkward getting people to pay with Yahoo PayDirect. Most people are familiar with PayPal or BillPoint but not PayDirect. But slowly but surely a lot of my buyers are signing up for PayDirect. A few buyers still ask if I accept PayPal and that adds to the awkwardness. I just tell them I don't accept PayPal (or BillPoint for over $15 trx) due to their rising fees. Since September it hasn't hurt my sales one bit that I don't accept PayPal as stuff is flying off the shelves and usually for my Buy It Now price. Actually since I eliminated PayPal, I've had an unprecedented run of great luck! Sales have been nonstop and profits have never been better as I can now pocket the 3-10+% I used to hand over to PayPal! 99% of my buyers have been very accomodative and will either signup for PayDirect or fork over a MO or check. I am finding more sellers wising up and advertising PayDirect in their auctions. When you boil it down, PayDirect is no less safe than PayPal or BillPoint and their unsafe chargeback policies. Plus it's FREE!
Anyone else forcing buyers to sign up for Yahoo PayDirect for online payments? Any trouble getting people to signup and use it?
posted on September 7, 2001 07:30:38 AM
I'm not sure, but I think PayPal used to be free also.
Requiring payment by mo or check won't stop me from bidding on something I really want, but the acceptance of online payments does increase the frequency of my impulse buying.
I am already signed up for 2 online payment services and I doubt I would sign up for another, so it is unlikely I would impulse bid on your auctions, but as long as you accept checks or mo, and it is something I really want I might bid, depending on what your competition has to offer.
If you were really trying to force me to use Yahoo PayDirect with no other options, I would not bid.
posted on September 7, 2001 07:39:11 AM
AOl has something similar to yahoo pay direct also.
anyway,if a person is familiar with yahoo auction,he will have no problem with your request,else some folks will get turned off .
personally i dont like sellers to dictate ,soon we will be saluting adolf hitler.
so i will stay away from your auction unless you are auctioning off one dollar bill at one cent.
posted on September 7, 2001 07:42:52 AM
That's what I thought would happen somewhat when I got rid of PayPal, but it hasn't happened. I thought sales would slump the way people were talking on this board, but nothing like that happened. There are plenty of people willing to bid and buy using other means.
By the way, I meant I only force people to pay through Yahoo PayDirect if they insist on paying electronically. They're still welcome to pay by check or MO. No problem with that.
An exception I forgot is I do allow International bidders to pay by BillPoint or PayPal if they ask. It's easier for them.
posted on September 7, 2001 07:55:31 AMpersonally i dont like sellers to dictate ,soon we will be saluting adolf hitler.
Is that for real?
Come on. A seller has every right to run his/her business as they see fit, just like you will either bid or won't.
I just had an auction winner (Canadian) email saying that he wants his package delivered UPS to Buffalo/Niagra Falls so he can pick it up. We don't fool with UPS. Look at it from our point of view. We'd have to make a 25 mile round trip to the nearest UPS facility which is only open in the early morning or late afternoon. For a $13.00 sale just so he won't have to pay a little bit of duty? We're not going to accomodate him with UPS. He should have asked before bidding.
I don't like pushy people to dictate to me so I guess you won't be bidding on my auctions.
posted on September 7, 2001 08:07:27 AM
I stopped using paypal quite a while ago and take paydirect and bidpay also. I have small banners for each in my auctions. I didn't see any change in sales and the few sales I MAY not get because I don't take paypal has more then be paid for a few times over by all the fees I haven't been paying.
I also think it goes this way for the buyers that will only buy if the seller takes paypal well that isn't any sweat for the seller because there is another person that is willing to buy it and they will use one of the other methods.
I don't force them to use paydirect. They can chose to use it or bidpay. They can send a personal check or a money order or cash. I think that is gives them enough choices.
posted on September 7, 2001 08:08:59 AM
Can someone tell me hoe you direct the customer to yahoo paydirect? I have an account but what URL do you send them to? Any help sure would be appreciated as I would love to start using them.
posted on September 7, 2001 08:11:43 AM
I wonder what percentage of buyers are using PayDirect? It would be interesting to hear from somebody who offers Paypal, Billpoint, and PayDirect (with no restrictions on any of them) to find out what the buyers' preferences are for on-line payments. I would start accepting it if there's a big enough base of users. Of course, once it reaches that point, they'll starting charging fees for it anyway.
posted on September 7, 2001 08:14:55 AM
No one is putting a gun to anyone's head and forcing them to do anything...Offering a choice is far different from dictating...not accepting certain forms of payment is also far from dictating.
Macys and many other store are more than happy to offer to open an instant account for you....does not mean one HAS TO accept... and they have never turned down my check or cash
Choice...Choice...Choice...
Edited spelling, cuz I am only on my first cup of coffee...
********
Gosh Shosh! My "About Me" Page
[ edited by shoshanah on Sep 7, 2001 08:19 AM ]
posted on September 7, 2001 08:27:09 AM
the only real problem with PayDirect is that many people have told me that signing up for the first time is a headache. I am not sure what the problem is.
People who already have accounts report no problems. I presently state that I take PayPal for non-credit cards and PayDirect for credit cards, and get a small but steady stream of PD payments.
posted on September 7, 2001 08:29:26 AM
Did anyone see my question?????? I just need to know how to direct customers there last time I checked about 6 months ago it was a bit confusing
posted on September 7, 2001 08:41:24 AM
http://paydirect.yahoo.com
I list in my auctions PayPal, Billpoint, ProPay, PayDirect, and BidPay as my e-payment options. The overwhelming majority use PayPal, with Billpoint coming in second, checks third, and the occasional money order, and rarely, cash.
It might be months in between receiving a PayDirect payment.
And I've only used ProPay once and that's only because the buyer actually emailed their credit card number to me in 2 emails. (I've had the ProPay account for a year now and I expect eventually I'll receive an email about having it closed due to inactivity. No big loss there, since their fees are among the highest and no one is interested in using it anyway.)
Thanks for the thread and keep us posted on your results, will you?
posted on September 7, 2001 09:42:27 AM
i notice more and more of my ebay bidders are using paypal,may be i have a premier account with them?? and i am getting lower rate.
i also state i accept paypal in my yahoo shop and i have some cases where buyers use paypal.
from where i sit,paypal seems to be doing well,lets hope they hire a real PR man who does not say things like billpoint is taking food away from your child???
anyway,i want to wish paypal well,a survivor is a winner these days,i admire them for their persistence and hardwork!!
posted on September 7, 2001 10:10:54 AM
> It would be interesting to hear from
> somebody who offers Paypal, Billpoint,
> and PayDirect (with no restrictions on any > of them) to find out what the buyers'
> preferences are for on-line payments.
I accept all three with no restrictions. On eBay, its Paypal then BillPoint. On Yahoo, PayDirect is default. Their "Send PayDirect Invoice" is so easy to use, although signing up for a newbie is a hassle.
> (I've had the ProPay account for a year
> now ... their fees are among the highest
> and no one is interested in using it
> anyway.)
Most of my web store transactions are through ProPay. They accept Visa/MC directly so there is no sign up hassle. In fact, a buyer tried to sign up with Paydirect, but decided to send me a Visa payment instead after several attempts.
posted on September 7, 2001 10:15:54 AM
holdenrex: I accept Paypal, Billpoint, Paydirect, Bidpay, checks, and money orders with no restrictions. I want to offer as many choices as possible to my potiential customers...Paypal is the overwhelming choice, checks/mo is second and Billpoint is a distant third. I've only gotten a few payments with Paydirect in the last year. (even with my Yahoo auctions)-Rob
posted on September 7, 2001 11:49:04 AM
Same here. PayPal was the leading payment type I received prior to this month. Maybe 50% PayPal, 15% BillPoint, 30% Checks/MOs, and 5% PayDirect. From September on it'll switch to nearly 0% PayPal , 20% BillPoint (only trx under $15), 60% Checks/MOs, and 20% PayDirect from what I see now. If someone throws a fit, or is International, I'll still allow PayPal reluctantly.
Hopefully someday soon PayDirect will become as ubiquitous as PayPal and then I wouldn't mind receiving 100% PayDirect transactions.
What really gets me about PayPal is the fact that they charge you credit card rates for payments made from a bank account or PayPal balance. They offer no sort of reduced fees for those types of transactions, and instead charge you the full credit card rate. Why??? Then they have the audacity to try and steer buyers toward avoiding Credit Card payments and opting for bank or PayPal balance payments instead.
posted on September 7, 2001 12:46:04 PM
Eseller - as you know, they are defaulting to non-cc payments and trying to discourage them because payment via Echeck & Paypal balance provides NO chargeback protections - and Buyer protection is next to nothing with Paypal (They find in your favor, but seller's balance is 0 so they can't do anything else) - so they keep the fees, seller keeps the payment, and buyer is out of luck.
posted on September 7, 2001 05:31:55 PM
Here is what I put in my e-mail to direct them jlb444
Visa Master Card taken by Yahoo! Paydirect a service that lets you send or receive money online from an account you fund with your credit card or checking account (free secure service). https://paydirect.yahoo.com/
If paying by Paydirect don't forget to give me your address they do not automatically do this. Thanks again.
posted on September 7, 2001 05:46:21 PM
I don't force anyone to use any type of payment method. I advertise my "preferred" method of payment to be paydirect.
I accept paypal, say so in my EOA email with the word "RELUCTANTLY" in capital letters and the only restriction is that I require paypal payments below $15. to be from a checking account or paypal balance.
I take cash (discourged), checks, money orders and soon I'll take jumpin' jacks chia pets
People use Paypal for many reasons, I think, and the biggest is that Paypal has done a great job convincing BUYERS that it will ALWAYS be free.
PayDirect is cutting their own throat by making it SO difficult to get signed up, and I disagree with the point that they'll charge if it catches on. It was created for a specific purpose, to ensure that all Yahoo! Stores participants could accept credit cards and that they (Yahoo!) had ONE method that was common across ALL Yahoo! storefronts.
posted on September 8, 2001 05:12:17 AM
I offer PayPal and PayDirect, along with Cash, Check or MO. I list on eBay and Yahoo. The buyers on eBay use PayPal for the most part for on line payments and the buyers at Yahoo use PayDirect more than PayPal.
I get more personal checks than MO and once in a while, cash.
I don't sell a lot of things, maybe 40 to 80 pieces a month and the majority of my sales are paid with personal checks. It's been that way from the beginning, with only a minor increase in on line payments over the years.
I would like more people to use PayDirect but I remember how difficult it was for me to figure out how to open my account and I can see why people would give up and move on.
As for the fees at PayPal. I have off set the total a little by using the Debit Card for all transactions that deal with my on line auctions and get the kick back of 1.5% on each one. I use it for postage, buying supplies and buying at estate sales. I also get a little money back each month because I have the money market account that draws interest. That helps but I would much prefer a free account like PayDirect with a Debit Card that offers the kick back, now wouldn't that be nice.
posted on September 8, 2001 07:15:33 AM
The only reason I've never used Yahoo PD is because back when I used Yahoo auctions, not only was cust svc terribly slow, the answers made eBay's canned replies look like words of wisdon. They also screwed up the balance in my "wallet" which after trying twice to resolve, I gave up (it was only feedback credits, so I didn't much care).
These incidences gave me a Zero Confidence level with anything associated w/Yahoo. I use a free Yahoo email as a backup because my ISP has very strict spam blocks that have prevented me from getting about 4 responses from bidders in the last two years. But I wouldn't trust Yahoo with anything else about my business, let alone my money.
If someone here can say that when something went wrong, Yahoo support actually helped it get resolved in a timely manner, I'll be happy to rethink my position.
posted on September 8, 2001 07:55:31 AM
sadie999,
I have a yahoo shop and i offer yahoo paydirect and other forms of payment.
one customer paid me thru yahoo paydirect and i accept the fund and asked the fund to be moved to my bank account.
for almost a month,it just sat in my yahoo account,so i emailed them what happens?
finally someone called me and said there were some batch processing problem on certain day(s) and my transaction was LOST!
they will advance me the fund as they understand small shops need the money.
as we talked on the phone,he moved money into my yahoo account and i moved it to my bank account.it showed up in my bank account a few days later.
he also advised me to sign up my bank debit card to expedite the transfer as the network set up for debit/credit cards is faster than the interbank network.
anyway,you hear this BATCH SUBMITTING issue often with yahoo,I hope they will have it resolved soon.
posted on September 8, 2001 01:23:45 PM
I need to clarify the title of this thread. I didn't intend to mean forcing one and only one form of payment down every bidders throat. AW limits the # of characters allowed in a title, therefore I couldn't add the text "for all online payments". If AW would have allowed, the title would have read "Anyone else forcing people to use Yahoo PayDirect for all online payments?" It wasn't intended to mean snail-mail payments aren't accepted. In fact now that I think about it, I'd really prefer a check or MO to any online payment, including Yahoo PayDirect, since then there's no threat of a chargeback. It WAS intended to mean I have a distaste for PayPal and BillPoint, their fees and nonprotective policies.
Online payments do expedite transactions but with that speed comes the threat of a chargeback sometime in the future and when you least expect it. If the economy continues to go south, and consumers continue to lose jobs and become strapped for cash, I could see some people resort to charging back online transactions. Most online transactions, especially from auction sites, are for things people don't need anyway. With a check or MO there isn't that type of worry. I had someone recently claim non-delivery of an item on Half.com almost 4 months after I shipped it, so I'm wondering whether we're going to see more of this kind of fraud the worse the economy turns. I didn't have the delivery confirmation, but luckily Half considered my clean transaction history and the fact that the claim was oddly made 4 months after the fact and didn't penalize me. This was only for a $25 item, but what about for a $250 item, and the opportunity to get ahold of quick cash by a chargeback when times are tough.
posted on September 8, 2001 05:53:50 PM
it is hard to imagine people who look for way to raise cash by doing chargeback when economy keeps going south.
true most ebay items they bot they dont really need,but i would think they will try to sell it before they do chargeback.
first you cannot chargeback if you are still sitting on the item,also with big ticket items,sellers usually have some form of proof they have delivered their end of the bargain,so if a buyer clicked off small items and do a series of chargebacks,the credit card company would not be pleased.
there seem to be more controversy with certain categories-electronics is one for sure.
Since September it hasn't hurt my sales one bit that I don't accept PayPal as stuff is flying off the shelves and usually for my Buy It Now price. Actually since I eliminated PayPal, I've had an unprecedented run of great luck! Sales have been nonstop and profits have never been better as I can now pocket the 3-10+% I used to hand over to PayPal! 
, 20% BillPoint (only trx under $15), 60% Checks/MOs, and 20% PayDirect from what I see now. If someone throws a fit, or is International, I'll still allow PayPal reluctantly.